Mwesen language
| Mwesen | |
|---|---|
| Mosina | |
| M̄ēsēn | |
| Pronunciation | [ŋ͡mʷɪˈsɪn] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Vanua Lava |
Native speakers | 10 (2012)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Glottolog | vure1239 Vures |
| ELP | Mwesen |
 Mwesen is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Mwesen (formerly known by its
Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers.[1]
Mwesen shows many similarities with the island's dominant language
Name
The name Mwesen is originally the name of a village, in the eastern part of Vanua Lava;Proto-Torres-Banks form *mʷosina.
The old Mota name M̄osina was the source of Mosina, one of the names which was occasionally given, in English, to the Mwesen language (sometimes encompassing Mwesen together with Vurës).[6]
Phonology
Mwesen has 7 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/:[2]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Near-close | ɪ ⟨ē⟩ | ʊ ⟨ō⟩ |
| Open-mid | ɛ ⟨e⟩ | ɔ ⟨o⟩ |
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ | |
Grammar
The system of
trial, plural).[4]
Spatial reference in Mwesen is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, in part innovative.[7]
References
- ^ a b François (2012): 88).
- ^ a b François (2005:446), François (2011:194)
- ^ François (2007).
- ^ a b François (2009), François (2016).
- ^ Satellite view of Mwesen.
- ^ For instance, the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database has a lexical list of Mwesen under the heading “Vurës (Mosina)” ‒ based on Tryon (1976).
- ^ François (2015:) 169-170).
Bibliography
- S2CID 131668754
- François, Alexandre (2007), "Noun articles in Torres and Banks languages: Conservation and innovation", in Siegel, Jeff; Lynch, John; Eades, Diana (eds.), Language Description, History and Development: Linguistic indulgence in memory of Terry Crowley, Creole Language Library 30, Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 313–326,
- François, Alexandre (2009), "Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: The history of aorist markers in north Vanuatu", in Pawley, Andrew; Adelaar, Alexander (eds.), Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: A festschrift for Bob Blust, vol. 601, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 179–195
- S2CID 42217419.
- François, Alexandre (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012 (214): 85–110, S2CID 145208588
- François, Alexandre (2015). "The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages" (PDF). In Alexandre François; Sébastien Lacrampe; Michael Franjieh; Stefan Schnell (eds.). The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. pp. 137–195. ISBN 978-1-922185-23-5.
- François, Alexandre (2016), "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.), Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles, Faits de Langues, vol. 47, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 25–60
External links
- Audio recordings in the Mwesen language, in open access, by CNRS)
- Kpwet, the Trickster God: A story in Mwesen, presented in trilingual format (by A. François)
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